Mandatory Tenant Notices and Legal Deadlines in Quebec: The Landlord's Recap Table

As the owner of a plex or multi-unit building on the North Shore, almost every step you take with tenants runs through a mandatory notice with a precise legal deadline. Sending a notice too late — or of the wrong type — can sink a rent increase, a repossession or planned work. This guide gathers the main mandatory tenant notices in Quebec into one recap table: lease modification and rent increase, major work, entry to the dwelling, repossession and eviction. Who sends it, when, and how. Sources: the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAT), the Civil Code of Quebec and Éducaloi.

Recap table: which notice, what deadline, how?

Here is the essential at a glance. All these notices are given by the landlord to the tenant, in writing, and the deadlines are counted from the date of receipt by the tenant. The deadlines vary with the length of the lease.

Sources: Administrative Housing Tribunal, Civil Code of Quebec (art. 1898, 1922-1929, 1942-1963) and Éducaloi — Housing. This table is a summary; always confirm your specific situation with the TAT.

Lease modification and rent-increase notice

To raise the rent or change a lease condition (for example, removing a parking spot), you must send a notice of lease modification. For a lease of 12 months or more, it must reach the tenant 3 to 6 months before the lease ends. For a lease shorter than 12 months, the deadline is 1 to 2 months; for an indeterminate-term lease, 1 to 2 months before the intended change.

The tenant then has 1 month to refuse in writing. If they do not reply, they are deemed to have accepted the change. If they refuse but stay in the dwelling, it is up to you, the landlord, to apply to the TAT to have the rent set. The size of the increase must stay reasonable under the TAT's new rent-calculation method, which weighs inflation, taxes, insurance and major work.

Notice of entry: the 24-hour rule

A rented dwelling remains the tenant's home: you cannot enter at will. To inspect the dwelling, carry out repairs or show it to a prospective tenant or buyer, you must give at least 24 hours' notice. The visit or work must take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except in an emergency (water damage, heating failure), where access is immediate without prior notice.

• Inspection, maintenance, non-urgent repair: 24 hours' notice.
• Showing to a buyer or a future tenant: 24 hours' notice, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• Emergency: immediate access, no prior notice, to protect the dwelling.

The entry notice may be verbal, but a written one protects you in a dispute. The tenant cannot refuse justified access, but may require your presence during the visit.

Notice of major work

Major work (non-urgent) that forces the tenant to temporarily leave the dwelling requires a notice whose length depends on how long the evacuation lasts:

• Evacuation of under one week: at least 10 days' notice.
• Evacuation of one week or more: at least 3 months' notice.

The notice must state the nature of the work, the start date, the expected duration and, where applicable, the compensation or rehousing offered. The tenant has 10 days to notify you that they refuse to leave; it is then up to you to apply to the TAT. Planning these notices carefully is essential before undertaking a large renovation or preparing a building for sale.

Repossession and eviction notices

Repossession lets a landlord who is a natural person take back the dwelling to live in it or house an eligible relative (child, parent, or former spouse for whom they remain the main support). Eviction, by contrast, aims to subdivide, substantially enlarge or change the use of the dwelling. The deadlines are identical:

• Lease of 6 months or more: at least 6 months' notice before the lease ends.
• Lease of 6 months or less: at least 1 month's notice before the end.
• Indeterminate-term lease: at least 6 months' notice before the repossession.

The tenant has 1 month to reply. Unlike a rent increase, here silence counts as a refusal: without a favourable reply, you must apply to the TAT for authorization within the following month. Eviction, moreover, entitles the tenant to compensation. For North Shore owners, we detail the process in our guide on repossession for owner occupancy and your rights in 2026. Note too that Law 31 now frames lease assignment, another notice worth knowing.

Law 31: what changed for eviction since 2024

If you rely on old notice templates or on advice from before 2024, be careful: the Act to protect tenants (commonly called Law 31), passed in February 2024, deeply reshaped the rules of eviction. For a plex owner planning to subdivide a unit, substantially enlarge it or change its use, these changes are major and bear directly on the validity of your notice. Here is the essential from the owner's standpoint.

The tenant's silence now counts as a refusal

Previously, a tenant who did not reply to an eviction notice within the month was deemed to have accepted it. That is no longer the case. Since Law 31, a tenant who does not reply to an eviction notice is presumed to have refused it. In practice, the burden of proof now rests on the landlord: it is up to you to apply to the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAT), within the month following the refusal (real or presumed), and to show that your project is genuine and serious — not a pretext to remove a tenant paying below-market rent. Eviction now follows the same logic as repossession, where silence has always meant refusal.

A three-year moratorium on certain evictions

The most consequential change for an investor: since June 6, 2024, and for a three-year period, no tenant may be evicted for subdivision, substantial enlargement or change of use of the dwelling. In other words, the classic lever of "I turn my 4½ into two studios" or "I convert this unit into a commercial space" is frozen until 2027, save for exceptions set out in the law. If your business plan rests on that kind of repositioning, you must rethink it or wait until the moratorium ends. Éducaloi and the TAT detail the situations covered.

A far more generous eviction indemnity

Law 31 also enriched the compensation owed to an evicted tenant. Article 1965 of the Civil Code now provides an indemnity equal to one month's rent per full year of uninterrupted tenancy, with a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 24 months of rent, plus reasonable moving expenses on presentation of supporting documents. A tenant present for 8 years in a unit at $1,200 a month could therefore claim 8 × $1,200 = $9,600, plus moving costs. This expense must enter any profitability calculation for an eviction project. Where a formal eviction is frozen or too costly, some owners instead negotiate a voluntary agreement to vacate — see our guide on cash for keys in Quebec.

Sources: Radio-Canada — passage of Law 31, article 1965 C.C.Q. and Éducaloi — Eviction. Always confirm your specific project with the TAT.

Repossession in detail: beneficiaries, protections and good faith

Repossession remains an important right for the individual landlord, but it is tightly framed. It never applies to a corporation, nor to an undivided co-owner who would hold the plex with someone other than their spouse. Knowing who can benefit, who is protected and how to prove good faith will spare you an invalid notice or an award of damages.

Who can benefit from a repossession?

You may take back a dwelling to live in it yourself or to house an eligible relative. The Civil Code covers:

• You, the owner, as your principal residence;
• Your first-degree ascendants or descendants: children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren;
• Another relative or connection by marriage of whom you are the main support;
• Your former spouse of whom you remain the main support after a separation.

A brother, sister, uncle, aunt or friend is not an eligible beneficiary unless you are their main support. Choosing the wrong beneficiary is one of the classic reasons a repossession notice is rejected by the TAT.

Tenants protected against repossession

Some tenants enjoy enhanced protection. You cannot repossess a dwelling occupied by a tenant (or their spouse) who meets all three of the following conditions: being 65 or older, occupying the dwelling for at least 10 years, and having an income equal to or below 125% of the maximum income for eligibility to low-rental housing. Narrow exceptions exist — notably where the owner themselves is 65 or older, or where the repossession beneficiary is 65 or older. Before sending a notice to a long-standing tenant, check these criteria: they make repossession outright impossible in many older North Shore buildings.

Sources: TAT — Repossessing a dwelling and Éducaloi — Repossession.

Proving good faith and the risk of punitive damages

Repossession must be genuine and in good faith: a true intention to house the beneficiary, not a pretext to take back possession and re-rent at a higher price. If the tenant shows the repossession was obtained in bad faith, the TAT may order you to pay damages and punitive damages under article 1968 of the Civil Code — even if the tribunal had initially authorized the repossession or the tenant had consented. Re-renting the unit to a third party shortly after a repossession "for your child" is the textbook scenario that leads to a claim. Document your project (who moves in, when, why) and keep the evidence: that rigour protects you as much as it protects the tenant.

The repossession procedure, step by step

1. Check eligibility: you are an individual, the beneficiary is eligible, the tenant is not protected.
2. Compute the deadline: 6 months before the lease ends (lease of 6 months and up), on receipt.
3. Draft the written notice: beneficiary's name, relationship, repossession date, dwelling address.
4. Serve it with proof of receipt: hand delivery with acknowledgement, registered mail or bailiff.
5. Await the reply (1 month): without a favourable reply, it is a refusal.
6. Apply to the TAT within the month of refusal: file the authorization request, or the process is time-barred.
7. Hearing and decision: prove the seriousness of the repossession; the TAT may impose conditions.

Drafting and serving a valid notice, step by step

A notice can be perfectly sound in law and still be rejected because it is poorly drafted or poorly served. The content and the method of delivery matter as much as the deadline. Here is the method every multi-unit owner should follow.

What a written notice must contain

Whatever its type (modification, repossession, eviction, major work), a notice must be written, drafted in the same language as the lease, and contain at least:

• The exact address of the dwelling (including the unit number in a plex);
• The tenant's name and that of the sender;
• The nature of the notice and its ground (for a repossession or eviction);
• The effective date or the targeted lease-end date;
• For a modification: the new rent or condition, and a note of the tenant's right to refuse within the month;
• For major work: the nature, date, duration and, where applicable, the compensation or rehousing.

The TAT provides free notice templates for each situation. Using them sharply reduces the risk of omitting a mandatory element.

How to serve the notice

The blind spot for many owners: a notice takes effect on receipt, not on sending. Choosing a method that proves the date of receipt is therefore essential.

Costs are indicative and vary by provider. The TAT recommends a method that proves receipt. Source: Administrative Housing Tribunal.

Computing the deadline without slipping

Always start from the lease-end date and count back the required delay, then add a delivery buffer. Concrete example for a lease ending on June 30 with a repossession (6 months): the notice must be received no later than December 31. If you send it by registered mail, allow 3 to 5 days of transit: post it by around December 23-24, ideally earlier to dodge the holiday rush. A notice received on January 2 would be out of time and would push your project back a full year.

Three worked scenarios on a North Shore plex

Nothing beats concrete cases to anchor the deadlines. Here are three typical situations for the owner of a triplex or quadruplex on the North Shore, with dates and calculations. The amounts are illustrative.

Scenario A — Rent increase on a triplex

You own a triplex in Saint-Eustache. The three leases end on June 30, 2027 and the rents are $1,100, $1,150 and $1,200. You want to apply the TAT's 2026 base increase, estimated at 3.1% for unheated dwellings whose lease renews between April 2, 2026 and April 1, 2027. For a 12-month lease, the modification notice must reach the tenants between January 1 and March 31, 2027 (3 to 6 months before June 30). On the $1,200 rent, a 3.1% increase is about $37 a month. Each tenant then has one month to refuse; without a refusal, the increase applies at renewal.

2026 base rate: Radio-Canada and the TAT calculation tool. The rate adjusts for taxes, insurance and work.

Scenario B — Repossession to house your child

You own a duplex in Blainville alone and want to house your daughter, a student, there. The lower unit's lease ends on June 30, 2027. Repossession requires a notice received no later than December 31, 2026 (6 months). You state your daughter's name, the relationship and the repossession date, then serve the notice by bailiff on December 15, 2026. The tenant has until January 15, 2027 to reply. If she refuses or stays silent, you must apply to the TAT before February 15, 2027 to have the repossession authorized, or the process is time-barred.

Scenario C — Major roof work

The roof of your quadruplex in Repentigny must be redone and the top unit must be vacated for 4 days. Because the evacuation lasts less than one week, at least 10 days' notice is enough. You plan the work from May 12 to 15: the notice must be received no later than May 2, stating the nature of the work, the dates, the duration and the compensation offered for temporary lodging. The tenant has 10 days to notify you of a refusal to leave; failing agreement, it is up to you to apply to the TAT.

Entry notices and sale showings of an occupied plex

When it comes time to sell an occupied plex, managing showings becomes a daily challenge. The dwelling remains the tenant's home: your access rights are framed, and overreach can backfire.

The 24-hour rule for every showing

To show a dwelling to a potential buyer, you must give at least 24 hours' notice, and the showing must take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The tenant cannot refuse a justified showing but may require your presence (or your representative's) and refuse showings outside the permitted hours. On a multi-unit plex for sale, that means coordinating a separate notice for each unit at each showing or group of showings.

"For sale" sign and photos

You may post a "For sale" sign on the building and hold showings, but you cannot unreasonably disturb the tenant or enter without notice to photograph the interior. Give early warning, group the showings and share a clear schedule: a tenant who is informed and respected greatly eases a sale. A harassed tenant, by contrast, can complain to the TAT and complicate the transaction.

Many owners find this coordination heavy. That is one reason selling a plex with the active leases in place to a buyer who assumes them simplifies everything: no repossession, no repeated showings, no notices to manage.

Notices and the sale of an occupied building: what the buyer inherits

Selling a plex does not end the leases: in Quebec, a sale does not terminate the leases in force. The buyer becomes the new landlord and takes over the building with its tenants, its rents and its pending notices. This has direct consequences for preparing your sale file.

Leases follow the building

The new owner is bound by the existing leases, on their current terms: rents, end dates, special clauses. A modification or repossession notice you have already served continues to produce its effects after the sale. Conversely, a repossession or eviction project does not automatically "travel": it is the new owner's eligibility that counts if they want to take back a unit.

Repossession by a buyer: beware of undivided co-ownership

A buyer who wants to occupy a unit must be an individual and follow the same repossession rules. Crucial point: if two people buy a plex in undivided co-ownership without being spouses, they cannot exercise a repossession. Many buyers overlook this and discover too late that they will never be able to house a relative. Flagging it in your dealings with a buyer avoids unpleasant surprises and secures the transaction.

Preparing an impeccable notice file for the sale

A building whose leases, notices and proofs of receipt are well documented sells faster and reassures the buyer. Gather:

• A copy of every current lease, with section G completed;
• All modification notices served and their proofs of receipt;
• Any repossession, eviction or work notices in progress;
• The history of rents and adjustments over recent years.

This file is part of what a serious buyer reviews. If you are preparing a sale, our guide on due-diligence documents to sell a plex details the expected paperwork.

Section G, banned deposits and duties at signing

Mandatory notices do not begin at the end of the lease: several duties fall on the landlord from signing. Neglecting them creates a flaw that can resurface years later, notably during a rent challenge or a sale.

Section G: declaring the lowest rent

When concluding a new lease, article 1896 of the Civil Code requires you to complete section G of the TAT's mandatory lease form: state the lowest rent paid over the preceding 12 months, or the rent set by the TAT where applicable. This entry lets the new tenant know whether they are paying more than the previous tenant and, if so, apply to have the rent set within 10 days of signing. A section G left blank or false exposes the landlord to a rent review.

Source: TAT — Notice to a new tenant and Éducaloi.

Security deposits are illegal

Unlike other provinces, Quebec prohibits any security deposit. The landlord cannot demand any sum other than the rent — no security deposit, no mandatory post-dated cheques, no "last month" in advance. Claiming such an amount is illegal, and the tenant may refuse it or seek its return. This rule often surprises new investors coming from elsewhere; complying with it heads off an easy tenant claim.

Source: Government of Quebec — Security deposits are illegal.

A chain of duties to respect

From signing to the end of the lease, each step has its formality: section G and the mandatory form at signing, the 24-hour entry notice during the lease, the modification notice for renewal, and the repossession, eviction or work notices to end the relationship. Keeping a clean file for each unit — lease, notices, proofs of receipt — is the best protection for a multi-unit owner, and a considerable asset the day you sell.

Common mistakes that void a notice

A poorly prepared notice can be rejected by the TAT and cost you a full year. The most common traps:

• Counting the deadline from the sending date: the clock starts on receipt. Allow for mail transit.
• A verbal notice for a repossession or modification: these must be written, otherwise they are invalid.
• Forgetting to apply to the TAT within the month: after a repossession refusal, you have 1 month to act, or the process is time-barred.
• Confusing repossession and eviction: eviction triggers compensation and targets different grounds.
• Going past 7 p.m. or skipping the entry notice: even a sale showing needs 24 hours' notice.

If you are unsure about a deadline or a notice template, consult the TAT directly or a legal service. The articles on this blog are informational and do not replace legal advice.